Someone, I Swear, That Does Care
by JobbyShipper
Summary: Jimmy Olsen has given up on his marriage to Chloe Sullivan. His suspicions of Davis Bloome have pulled him over the edge. He is on his own. However, is there help lurking in the shadows, waiting to scoop him up and save him before doomsday can fall on him
1. Prologue: Turbulence

**Story**: Someone, I Swear, That Does Care  
**Pairings**: Oliver x Jimmy (Olimmy), Clark & Lois (Clois), Chloe x Davis. Maybe a few surprises... One in particular should be an exciting, fresh one for me.  
**Rating**: M for Mature  
**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own the rights to Smallville or its characters what so ever. Those rights belong to Jerry Siegel, Joel Shuster, and those at DC Comics. Any Batman related characters belong to Bob Kane. Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston. I am doing this story for my own fun and entertainment.  
**Warning**: Slash, involving two males together. Don't like it, don't read it.  
**Timeline**: Picks up after "Turbulence". If you haven't seen Season 8 up to this point, watch out for spoilers. This will start off with showing the ending of "Turbulence", leading up to a little prologue to "Hex", next week's episode, which will tie into the next chapter. There will be a new chapter for each of the remaining episodes. For those that follow SPOILERS, yes, I know that Jimmy and Oliver are set to begin a friendship around the time of the episode of "Beast". However, the ending of "Turbulence", and the beautiful song played at the end of the episode, "I Don't Care" by Apocalyptica gave me the inspiration for this, hence the title of the story. I should be able to rework things, and besides, the spoiler of them forming a friendship got my shipper thoughts burning to do something fan fiction related once again.  
**Summary**: Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore) has given up on his marriage to Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack). His suspicions of Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer) have pulled him over the edge, and he means to stop this monstrous killer before his reign of terror can go any further. He's quit his job at The Daily Planet, not before turning in everything that he had on Davis to Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), and is on his own now... However, is there help lurking in the shadows, waiting to scoop him up, save the day, and save his life before doomsday can fall on his head?

**Author's Note:** Thanks for taking the time to look at this. Please read and review. I would really appreciate thoughts, questions, concerns, and the like.

**Prologue: Turbulence**

"No more than three tablets a day," Nurse Kwan said as she handed the pills over to Chloe Sullivan. "They can be highly addictive."

Chloe nodded her understanding and lightly smiled.

"Good luck," Nurse Kwan told her before walking out of the hospital room.

Following quickly after her was Jimmy Olsen, shouldering his bag. He glanced at Chloe, the obvious pain flooding in his sleep deprived eyes as he walked past her, remembering all that had happened since his transfer to Metropolis General to finish his recovery.

"Hey," Chloe called after him, turning around to face the back of his head. "You're not in this alone, ya know?"

"I know how much you enjoy playing Florence Nightingale," Jimmy said, turning around to face her. "But I can take care of myself." There was a lot of bite in the last part of what he had to say. He turned around and walked out of the room.

Chloe stood there, a stunned look on her face, though she should've expected it after all that had happened. However, she quickly followed after Jimmy into the hallway. "Jimmy, I know you're upset, but just trust me." She moved quickly to him, grabbing his left arm to stop him. "I just stopped you from doing something you would've regretted the rest of your life."

"Davis came after me, and I was protecting myself," Jimmy reminded her. "But you don't believe me. You'd rather believe anyone else but me."

Chloe looked around, seeing the staring faces of many doctors and nurses that were all around them. Even Emil Hamilton, Queen Industries' specialist, was there in attendance, having stopped what that he was doing to stare at them, concern on his face. _'Great,'_ she thought. _'Oliver's gonna hear about this now.'_

Chloe turned back to Jimmy. "People are watching us. Can we talk about this at home?"

"Home?" Jimmy spit out. "We have no home, Chloe."

Chloe tried to hold back as much of the shock and pain that she was in, having to look away from Jimmy's eyes for a moment before looking back up to him. "Okay, you still have a lot of drugs in your system from--"

"No," Jimmy interrupted. "No, no, no. My mind has never been so clear. I've put up with years of you taking someone else's side over mine. First Clark and then Davis? Look, I realize now you just don't trust me. Never have."

Hamilton quickly pulled Security Guard Samson Bennett, whom was walking down the hallway, to him and pointed down the hallway to Chloe and Jimmy.

The guard nodded and moved down the hallway.

"Of course I trust you, Jimmy," Chloe pleaded as Jimmy moved past her. She turned around to follow after him. "I trust you with my whole heart. I'm your wife."

Jimmy stopped and turned back around. "And that's what I don't understand." He quickly moved back to her, his rage fuming out no matter how many people were watching. "Why did you even marry me?"

Chloe was once again stunned into silence.

"Sir, settle down," Samson Bennett said, moving over to intervene.

"I'm fine," Jimmy said to the guard.

Chloe looked to Bennett. "We were just leaving."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Jimmy scornfully said.

"Come on, Jimmy," Chloe pleaded, moving closer to him. "We can work through this."

"I'm done trying to make this work," Jimmy said. "Marrying you was the biggest mistake of my life." With that said, Jimmy turned around and moved for the exit quickly.

Chloe's eyes began to tear up quicker than she could realize as she watched her husband walk out the front exit.

Despite that some of the hospital staff were returning to their work, others were still watching. Emil Hamilton had his cell phone out, dialing the number for Oliver Queen's private line.

* * *

Jimmy Olsen stormed through the top level of The Daily Planet, making the trip toward Tess Mercer's office.

"Mr. Olsen, Miss Mercer's not in," Tess' assistant said sternly as he followed after Jimmy. "I cannot let you in here. I'm calling security."

"Don't bother," Jimmy snapped to him as he walked right into Tess' office. "I quit. If she wants to sell more papers, tell her to put this at the top of her to do list." Jimmy slammed down the file folder that contained everything that he had on Davis Bloome, took up a black marker, and wrote a note that was at the top of the file. The note read "Meet Davis Bloome." He turned the file around to face the front of her chair and then took off out of the office.

* * *

Jimmy stopped his car at a red light as the rain poured down in drenching sheets. He looked down, seeing the bottle of pills. Picking them up, he opened the bottle and poured out four of them. Putting them in his mouth, he swallowed immediately, not at all caring that he was only supposed to take three of them a day.

No longer willing to wait at the light to change, he pulled out and kept driving, thankfully not causing a wreck as he did this dangerous maneuver. Suddenly his cell phone rang. Sighing in frustration, Jimmy decided to ignore it, continuing to focus on the road. After a few rings it stopped. Moments later, the ringing started again.

Grabbing the phone, he quickly answered. "What?!"

"Wow, is that any way to answer the phone, Mr. Olsen?" the voice of Oliver Queen asked.

Confusion overtook Jimmy's face as he turned down a different road, thankful that he was almost home. "Mr. Queen?"

"You got it," Oliver said, chuckling lightly.

"Look, if you want a photo shoot or something, you need to go to someone else," Jimmy said. "I just quit my job." That said, the brunette hung up the phone and threw it into the passenger seat.

Pulling into a parking spot, Jimmy turned off the car, stepped out, and ran toward the door to his apartment complex. After jogging up the stairs and moving to the door to his apartment, Jimmy put the key into the lock and opened the door, thankful that he actually remembered which one belonged to him. He'd spent so many nights living in the Talon apartment in Smallville that it had been ages since he'd been to this place. At least now he wouldn't have to worry about the explosive gas prices he had to deal with on a daily basis to get to and from Smallville and Metropolis anymore. There apparently was a good side to all his pain.

Walking inside, Jimmy found the lights alright on and Oliver Queen standing in the middle of the kitchen, a large grin on his face.

"Ya know, you really should consider at least telling someone bye before hanging up," Oliver said.

Jimmy slammed the door and stormed over to the kitchen. "What are you doing in my apartment?"

Oliver allowed his smile to turn into a smirk. "Actually, it's my apartment. I own this building. Have for a couple weeks. You're just renting the space... and not really using it."

Jimmy didn't drop the frustrated look on his face for a second. "What do you want?"

Oliver frowned slightly as he moved over to the refrigerator, opened the door, and looked inside. "I got a very disturbing phone call from a friend of mine at Metropolis General. He told me that you and Chloe had fight in the hall." He turned around. "Look, I know it's probably none of my business about you and her, but Chloe's my friend, and I don't want to--"

"Look, spare me this," Jimmy said, moving into the living room area, tossing his bag on the couch before turning around to glare at Oliver. "Thing is, I can't believe it's you here. I expected Clark or Davis, but you? Is she keeping things from me about you too?"

"Look, Chloe has a lot on her plate, and she has people in her life that she wants to protect," Oliver said. "Friendships are important to everyone. I'm sure you know things about your friends that you don't tell her... like the location of Lucas Luthor."

Jimmy's face finally dropped from his frustrated expression to that of shock. He had to compose himself. "What? Who's that?"

Oliver shook his head, moving to the cabinets, looking in each one of them. "Not an ounce of alcohol in this place. I don't know how you live like this." He sighed, closing the cabinets, moving out of the kitchen, and over to Jimmy. "Look, I'm not gonna press the issue, unless I ever find reason to believe that Lucas knows something about his half-brother's followers, so you've got nothing to worry about."

Jimmy shook his head. "I told you, I don't know who you're talking about."

"And you're upset with Chloe for keeping things from you," Oliver said, sarcasm wrapping in his words.

"That's not it," Jimmy said.

Oliver nodded, moving to a chair and taking a seat, crossing his legs. "That's right. You think she's protecting Davis, the man that's killing people, right?"

"Your buddy at Met General tell you that too?" Jimmy asked, crossing his arms.

Oliver nodded. "There's a lot that goes on in that hospital, and I need to keep some eyes in there."

"Why would you care about the hospital?" Jimmy asked, his reporter side coming out as he raised an eyebrow.

"I have stock in Metropolis General, Jimmy," Oliver said flatly. "Don't you know that I pretty much have a claim in a lot of places here. Technically, I even have a bit of hold over The Daily Planet now that Queen Industries and LuthorCorp have merged."

"And that's supposed to mean what to me?" Jimmy asked.

"I can get you your job back," Oliver said.

"This isn't about my job!" Jimmy exclaimed, his anger returning full swing.

"How many of your pills have you taken?" Oliver asked.

Jimmy opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself.

"You've already overdosed, haven't you?" Oliver asked. "You're sweating profusely, and don't pretend I can't tell you're swaying back and forth. Maybe you should sit down."

"Or maybe you should get out," Jimmy said, wiping some sweat from his forehead.

"I'm here for your best interests," Oliver explained. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"And since when does the mighty Oliver Queen give a damn about me?" Jimmy asked.

"Since you hurt Chloe," Oliver said. "And right before her birthday too."

"Well, why don't you go make it all better?" Jimmy snapped. "I'll even get the door for you!" Jimmy turned, moving off quickly for the front door. Suddenly, he found himself loosing his footing, his legs giving out on him, most likely due to the overdose. The last thing Jimmy saw, before blackness, was the kitchen countertop.


	2. Chapter 1: Hex

**Story**: Someone, I Swear, That Does Care  
**Pairings**: Oliver x Jimmy (Olimmy), Clark & Lois (Clois), Chloe x Davis. Maybe a few surprises... One in particular should be an exciting, fresh one for me.  
**Rating**: M for Mature  
**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own the rights to Smallville or its characters what so ever. Those rights belong to Jerry Siegel, Joel Shuster, and those at DC Comics. Any Batman related characters belong to Bob Kane. Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston. I am doing this story for my own fun and entertainment.  
**Warning**: Slash, involving two males together. Don't like it, don't read it.  
**Timeline**: Picks up after "Turbulence". If you haven't seen Season 8 up to this point, watch out for spoilers. This will start off with showing the ending of "Turbulence", leading up to a little prologue to "Hex", next week's episode, which will tie into the next chapter. There will be a new chapter for each of the remaining episodes. For those that follow SPOILERS, yes, I know that Jimmy and Oliver are set to begin a friendship around the time of the episode of "Beast". However, the ending of "Turbulence", and the beautiful song played at the end of the episode, "I Don't Care" by Apocalyptica gave me the inspiration for this, hence the title of the story. I should be able to rework things, and besides, the spoiler of them forming a friendship got my shipper thoughts burning to do something fan fiction related once again.  
**Summary**: Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore) has given up on his marriage to Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack). His suspicions of Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer) have pulled him over the edge, and he means to stop this monstrous killer before his reign of terror can go any further. He's quit his job at The Daily Planet, not before turning in everything that he had on Davis to Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), and is on his own now... However, is there help lurking in the shadows, waiting to scoop him up, save the day, and save his life before doomsday can fall on his head?

**Author's Note:** Thanks for taking the time to look at this. Please read and review. I would really appreciate thoughts, questions, concerns, and the like. EDIT: I would also like to take a moment to thank tubazrcool and sarahofearth for the reviews of the Turbulance prologue. It means a lot, and I hope both come back for chapter 1. I'm interested in more comments as the first ones were greatly appreciated.

**Chapter 1: Hex**

_It was unbearable. The pain that he suffered on a day that should've been the happiest day of his life could not and would not end. 'Why is this happening to me?' the brunette thought as he lay on the cold barn floor, blood seeping from a wound as he began slipping out of consciousness. If only the pain would just end already. He would take death with open arms._

"_You're going to die, Jimmy," a foreboding, feminine voice told him._

_Despite that he didn't want to open his eyes, Jimmy Olsen very slowly did so anyway, squinting in the light from the ceiling of the barn, shining down on him. Looking up, he could see his bride, smirking at him and standing beside her was the monster that had attacked him and many others mere moments after making his appearance felt._

"_It's inevitable," the bride said, placing a hand lightly on the monster's shoulder. "Did you ever think that you really deserved me?" She laughed. "You're a geek, and beautiful girls don't end up with the geek. It upsets the balance." Turning her head to the monster, she lightly brushed her blond bangs aside, smiling to the grotesque face of the creature. "Beauty has finally found her beast."_

_Jimmy wanted to say something. His mind was begging for his lips to open and say something. His bride had to get away from that creature before he hurt her too. However, his lips would not part. Something was keeping him from saying anything. There was no hope for her now. She was doomed._

"_Chloe," the monster groaned, scooping her up into his arms and staring into her beautiful eyes with his dark red ones._

'_That thing knows her name?' Jimmy thought to himself, confusion etching its way onto his face. 'How does it know her?'_

_Chloe Ann Sullivan gently touched the monster's face, allowing her pointer finger to gently stroke one of the bones that protruded out. Turning to Jimmy once more, a smirk reformed. "You're still alive? Just die already." She looked to the monster. "Take my away."_

_Jimmy's lips quivered, finally moving but only slightly. He tried to get control of them with his mind, forcing them to open so he could speak._

_The monster turned his back to Jimmy and slowly tromped out of the barn._

_Jimmy's mouth finally opened just as the monster stepped out of the door. "Chloe!" It was too late. They had disappeared._

With a start, Jimmy sat up in the bed he laid in. His breathing was fast, chest bouncing up and down with every quick breath. He looked around the room, not recognizing where he was. His forehead was in intense pain. Gently touching it with his right hand, he could feel the bandage that ran half the length of his head.

Moving to get out of the bed, Jimmy lurched back, resistance keeping his left hand from going any further. Moving the pillows away with his right hand, he immediately took notice of the handcuffs that were keeping him imprisoned to the bedpost.

"What the heck?" Jimmy asked in confusion. He pulled with his strength, trying to break the handcuff free unsuccessfully. The strain caused him to continue breathing heavily. He was sweating profusely, having to wipe the sweat from his brow with his free hand.

"You're just gonna hurt your wrist," a familiar voice said.

Turning his head, Jimmy stared in shock at Oliver Queen, wearing a suit, leaning on the doorway with his arms crossed.

"What is this?" Jimmy asked in frustration pointing his right hand to his cuffed left one.

"It's called handcuffs," Oliver explained, coming into the room and putting his hands into his pockets. "Police officers use them all the time when they arrest people."

Jimmy glared at Oliver. "You're not a cop. Why am I handcuffed to this bedpost?"

"For someone that could've died in a pool of his own blood last night, you don't seem very thankful to the man that saved your life," Oliver observed, putting on a blank face despite that he clearly wanted to smile. This situation, despite being really pathetic, was also slightly funny anyway. Perhaps he was just a little sadistic in that way, but Oliver didn't like to think of himself in that way.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't remember? I guess memory loss isn't too farfetched."

"You were in my apartment. I do remember that much."

Oliver smiled. "Well, that's a start." He moved over and took a seat at the edge of the bed. "How about the last thing that you remember?"

"I was going to get the door, to let you out," Jimmy replied. He looked down, shaking his head. "I don't know what happened next."

"You fell," Oliver told him, his smile disappearing. "Worst part was, you hit the kitchen counter. It's been awhile since I've seen that much blood. If I hadn't been there, you wouldn't be alive right now."

Jimmy shook his head. "You still haven't told me why I'm handcuffed."

Oliver sighed. "You overdosed on your medication, first night out of Met General too. Do you really think that I'm gonna let you roam around so that you can just keep taking them?"

Jimmy winced. "You don't know how much pain I'm in."

"Oh, I've got a good idea," Oliver said, nodding his head. "But the handcuffs aren't coming off."

"This is kidnapping!" Jimmy exclaimed, reaching out quickly with his right hand, trying to grab for Oliver, but he was inches from actually touching the other man's face.

"That's right," Oliver said. "Just a little closer, Jimmy."

Jimmy strained, groaning in pain from the handcuff.

"You're just hurting yourself more," Oliver said. "Let it go."

Jimmy stopped resisting, falling on his back. Pain creased his face as he grabbed his cuffed wrist. "If you let me go, I won't press charges, Mr. Queen."

Oliver stood up and moved for the door. "You'll thank me for this later." He turned his back to Jimmy. "And please, call me Oliver." That said, he walked out the door.

"No!" Jimmy exclaimed. "Come back! I'll tell you where Lucas is if you let me go! Please!"

For a moment, Jimmy was all alone, but Oliver suddenly reappeared in the doorway. "You'd give up your best friend so easily?"

"I just want to go home," Jimmy said in desperation.

"So you can take more pain pills?" Oliver asked. "Make yourself worse?" He shook his head. "It's not happening. You're going to get better the natural way, and then you're going back to The Daily Planet. I'll make sure of it."

Jimmy glared daggers at Oliver, his eyes piercing. "Screw you."

Oliver looked to his watch. "Maybe later. If I'm going to be fashionably late for Chloe's birthday party instead of rudely, I'd better get moving. I would send your wishes, but I doubt you really want to give them to her. You'll be fine while I'm gone, right?"

Jimmy sneered, offering no reply.

Oliver nodded. "I thought so. I'll make sure someone brings you food before I go. You haven't eaten for a whole day. I expect you to actually eat it. You're gonna need your strength. Oh, and shouting for help isn't gonna work either. We're in the penthouse at Queen Industries. Everyone knows you're here, and that I'm helping you. They won't let you go." With that, Oliver left the doorway and Jimmy all alone with his pain.

Moving down the hallway and into the main room, Oliver stopped on a dime.

Bart Allen was sitting on the couch, eating a banana. "Yo."

"Shouldn't you be on patrol?" Oliver asked.

Bart stood up, swallowing the rest of the banana. "Yeah, but I got a tip from my contact in Keystone."

Oliver crossed his arms. "And you're not already there, why?"

"Cause I'm gonna need backup from someone that knows how to deal with this guy," Bart replied.

"You're a big boy, Bart," Oliver said, moving for the elevator. "I'm sure you can get hold of the others fine without me doing it for you." He pulled up the gate. "We don't have Chloe helping anymore, so you've gotta start pulling your weight."

"I need someone else," Bart said.

Oliver turned around confused. "Boy scout?"

Bart nodded. "It's Mikail."

"You found Myxzptlk?"

"Guy's been working the basketball circuit out there for weeks. I figured if we brought him in that--"

"We'd have a fine start getting Lex's originals," Oliver finished before pulling out his cell phone and tossing it to Bart. "Make the call. If he gets mad cause he's too busy, blame me and tell him the target." That said, Oliver got into the elevator, closed the gate, and pressed the button to go down.

* * *

Getting out of his sports car, he nodded to the valet and moved for the entrance to the large building that housed The Ace of Clubs. A swooshing sound from behind caught his attention. Turning around, Oliver smiled lightly to Clark Kent. "Hey."

Clark handed over a present. "I got Bart's call. Is it true?"

Oliver looked to the gift and then back to Clark, nodding. "Yeah. Give Chloe you're regards?"

Clark nodded and took off at super speed.

Oliver watched him go before turning back to the entrance, going in the building.

* * *

Having been unsuccessful in finding the birthday girl amongst the many party goers, Oliver Queen emerged from the Ace of Clubs, discovering that she was all by herself on the balcony, looking out at the Metropolis skyline. Moving over to her with the birthday present in hand, he quickly placed it in front of her face. The tag read 'From Clark'.

"Clark, you shouldn't have," Chloe said before turning around, finally showing her face to Oliver as he smiled lightly at her.

"Ah, Clark's sorry he couldn't make it," Oliver told her, catching the disappointed face that Chloe made upon seeing him. "He and Bart are off--"

"Yeah, dealing with the crisis in Keystone," Chloe finished for him. "I know." The reason she knew was because despite that she hadn't been working for The Justice League lately, Bart had been keeping in touch, and he let her know what was going on. However, she hadn't realized that Clark was going to be leaving so soon and would miss her party. She did a slight laugh despite that she was disappointed, wishing that her best friend was there with her. Perhaps she'd be able to actually celebrate a little then. She looked back to Oliver.

Oliver looked down to the gift and nodded to it. "Come on. Let's see what you got."

Chloe turned her gaze down to the gift, took the lid off, and pulled back the tissue paper to reveal a book that she knew from long ago. "Oh, wow. I haven't seen this in ages." It was the novel titled Tales of the Weird & Unexplained. A bigger smile came to her face without her even realizing it before it disappeared entirely.

"You okay?" Oliver asked, taking complete notice of her facial gestures. Of course he knew that she wasn't. Her husband had just ended things with her the night before, and she was having to actually celebrate.

Turning to look at Oliver, Chloe managed a fake smile and nodded. "Yeah." She shrugged. "Birthdays just make me a little reflective."

"Well, what do you say we get you out of here and head into the party, huh?" Oliver asked. "Come on."

Chloe slightly nodded, picking up the box that the book came in and moving off with Oliver.

Getting the door, Oliver allowed Chloe to step inside first before following her in. The music was so loud in The Ace of Clubs, and it was techno music. It left Oliver wondering why that would be playing. It didn't really seem like the right kind of music for a birthday.

"See?" Chloe stated, gesturing slightly in the direction of Lois Lane and two other females, laughing and talking merrily. "Case in point. That was supposed to be my life. Ollie, when did this happen? One day, I'm on the fast track for my dream career as the intrepid reporter and then I blink, and all of a sudden, I'm this under qualified shrink for meteor infected kids who probably will wake up to be psycho killers while Lois & Clark are walking the beat with matching press passes together. Oh, and did I mention that I was actually able to hold on to happily ever after for about 2.3 seconds before my marriage imploded."

Oliver wasn't clueless to the things Chloe was saying, and he felt badly for her, but he also saw Jimmy's point of view as well, considering last night. They were both bad off it seemed. He just wasn't sure which side was the proper one. For now, he'd walk the fine line between the two. "Is this the part where you belt out the Sopranos aria and drive a dagger in your corset?"

Chloe couldn't help the short laugh that came out, but it was very short. "Right. Sorry for the Operetta. It's just, I would love to know how she does it."

"Ya know, Chloe, if I didn't know any better, I'd say there was a hint of jealousy in there."

"No. It's just, with all these Debbie ups and downers lately, I guess it would be really nice to leave it all behind and be back in the bullpen."

Oliver was about to say something in response when he heard approaching high heels coming toward them. He turned around.

"Hey," Lois said, moving over and handing Chloe a cupcake with a lit candle in it. "One year closer to the sweet release of death." She said it so happily with a wide grin.

"How wonderfully morbid," Chloe stated, looking to Oliver.

"Chloe, I am so sorry," Lois said, finding it hard to break it to her cousin easy. She decided to just let it out. "There's been a factory workers revolt in Mexico City, and The Planet is flying me down, el primero classo. Wheels up in thirty." She placed a tiara on Chloe's head. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Love you." She leaned in and placed a kiss on her cousin's cheek before rushing off.

A beeping noise suddenly went off in Oliver's jacket pocket. He began searching for it quickly. _Didn't I give my phone to Bart?_ He thought to himself finally pulling out what he forgot he still had: his Justice League pager. "Oh, Chloe, I gotta--"

"Duty calls," Chloe finished for him. "It's fine."

Oliver smiled. "I'm sorry. Happy Birthday." He just barely saw Chloe nod before turning around to leave, coming across a woman in a top hat.

"Now there's a man who looks like he needs a little magic in his button up life," she said.

"Ah, ya know what?" Oliver said before turning to Chloe and gently taking the woman's arm, taking her over to the birthday girl. "I wouldn't wanna steal the hocus pocus away from the birthday girl. How about a little something special for someone who truly deserves it. Okay?" He quickly moved off to leave again not looking back.

* * *

It had been a difficult night. Despite that the computer database in the penthouse was state of the art, sometimes it was a little off with its accuracy. The Green Arrow searched for what seemed like hours before finally finding the perpetrators. What annoyed him most was that it was Intergang again causing all the problems. He just wished that whoever it was that had reformed the organization after the death of Morgan Edge would be revealed already so The Justice League could bag and tag the bastard.

Taking off his costume in the storage room behind his fake, wall clock decoration, he moved out into the office area that was connected to his living room, back in the suit from earlier. In all honesty, despite how late it was, Oliver wasn't tired at all. Moving for the hallway, he figured it would be best to check in on his temporary roommate. There wouldn't be any word from who fed him since he assumed she was already gone for the evening.

Slowly opening the door to the large bedroom that Jimmy Olsen was staying in, Oliver was relieved to see that he was asleep. Moving over to the bed, he took a seat and looked over to Jimmy's sleeping form. He leaned back on the headboard and sighed.

Jimmy shifted on the bed.

Oliver froze but still turned his eyes. Jimmy didn't look to have noticed him, and he still seemed asleep from what Oliver could tell.

Jimmy groaned. "How was the party?"

"Fine for how long I was actually there," Oliver replied. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright," Jimmy said, sitting up. "I was only sleeping for lack of anything better to do."

"I guess I should've had Hope leave you a book or a television," Oliver said. "I'll do better by you tomorrow."

"You're kidding, right?" Jimmy asked, his rage slowly building.

"No, I'm not," Oliver replied. "This is gonna be grueling for you, and you're not gonna be better this soon."

"Why do you care about me so much anyway?" Jimmy asked. "I'm not ever going back to Chloe, so if she's the reason for this, you might as well let me go."

Oliver sighed. "This isn't for Chloe."

"Then what is it?" Jimmy asked.

Oliver closed his eyes and looked down. "I'm making up for past sins."

"You were addicted too?"

"No, but I was close to someone that got addicted to cocaine. I threw him out on the streets when I found out too. He was just a kid. My ward. I haven't heard from him since, and I don't know if I ever will again. He's probably dead. I'm not gonna let that happen to someone else ever again no matter what the drug."

"Look, I only had the pills for one night," Jimmy said.

"And you overdosed the first night," Oliver reminded him. "You would've gotten worse, and besides the hospital was pumping you with the same stuff while you were there. You were addicted."

"You don't know that," Jimmy said.

Oliver finally lifted his head and opened his eyes. "I'm not taking that chance." Standing up, he moved for the door.

"Please don't go," Jimmy said.

Oliver turned back around. "Why?"

"I'm in a lot of pain," Jimmy replied. "I just need to know someone's here."

"I'm just down the hall," Oliver told him.

Jimmy shook his head. "Please."

"I'll just go right to sleep," Oliver said, unsure of exactly what to say. He honestly wasn't all that tired still, but it would've been odd sharing a bed with someone. He hadn't done that since Lois. "I'm tired."

"That's fine," Jimmy said, lying back down fully.

Oliver sighed and moved back over, getting into the bed and lying on his back.

"Why do you care about where Lucas is?" Jimmy asked.

"He's a Luthor," Oliver replied.

"He's not like Lex or his dad," Jimmy said.

"You're only saying that because he's your best friend."

"It's stereotyping. His name shouldn't tell you anything. He's only half Luthor anyway."

"Doesn't make any difference," Oliver said, yawning.

"You don't know him," Jimmy said. "He's a good guy."

"In this world, everyone's got a bad side, Jimmy," Oliver told him. "You just have to look hard enough sometimes to find it." Turning on his side, Oliver closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Jimmy."

* * *

The next morning had been rather odd for Oliver. He'd completely forgotten falling asleep in one of the guest bedrooms, and he'd almost jumped out of his skin when he rolled over and saw the sleeping form of Jimmy Olsen beside him. Thankfully though, he hadn't woke up, so Oliver managed to get out of the room, to his own room, change, and leave for the day.

This day would be spent in his new office at LuthorCorp. It was nice to finally have his own place there, graciously designed by Tess' own Interior Designers. That was where he currently was. A knock on the door drew his attention away from the forms that he was signing. _Speak of the devil_, he thought to himself. Tess Mercer was in the doorway holding a newspaper.

"Good morning, Mercy" Oliver said.

Walking into the office and not acknowledging the pleasantry, Tess took a seat right away in front of Oliver's desk. "Preparing for the meeting?"

Oliver nodded. "If we're gonna get the backing in Gotham, we both have to make sure we're ready."

"I agree," Tess said. "We're dealing with sharks now, Oliver." She looked down, gently brushing her skirt, trying to straighten it out.

Oliver took notice of her behavior. "You look distracted."

Tess looked up, slightly alarmed before recovering herself. "I am, actually. Pulling double duty here and The Planet can give me whiplash between the two. I just found out before coming here that one of my best photographers resigned, and now I can't find him."

Oliver shifted slightly in his chair, knowing where this was going right away. He had to keep his poker face on though.

"I think you know him," Tess said. "Chloe Sullivan's husband, Jimmy Olsen."

Oliver shook his head slightly. "Not really. Chloe I'm close with, but I barely know anything about Jimmy."

Tess nodded. "So you haven't seen him?"

"No," Oliver replied, knowing good and well that he was lying. It was of great importance that what he was doing remain a secret, and Tess was the last person that needed to know anyway. "Do you want me to call Chloe?"

Tess stood up. "No. That's alright. I'll deal with Olsen some other time. Our Gotham meeting comes first. I'll see you this afternoon." She started off but turned back around. "Oh, I thought I'd bring you today's Planet."

Oliver looked confused. "Since when are you the delivery boy?"

Tess smiled and placed the paper down in front of him. "Just trying to butter up my partner with free stuff."

Oliver watched as Tess walked out of the office. He turned to the paper and saw the headline. Picking it up, he stood and began pacing the office, reading the front page. He stopped at his desk after a moment, focusing his eyes back on the headline that read 'Search Continues In Luthor Murder'.

From the corner of his eye, Oliver could see that someone in black was standing in the room. At first, he thought Tess had come back, but moments later when he turned his head, Oliver was confused and shocked to see that it was the woman from Chloe's party last night. He tossed the paper on his desk and moved toward her. "Now why do I get the feeling you're not my ten o' clock from the steel union?"

"Zatanna," she said, putting her hand out for him to shake.

He accepted the handshake.

"We weren't properly introduced," Zatanna said.

"Zatanna," Oliver repeated. "You loose a bout with that name?"

She chuckled. "It's a family thing."

"Okay," Oliver said as he started picking up loose papers at a nearby table, tidying things up a bit before turning back to the woman. "So, uh, Zatanna, is it? You might be telling me what drives a lovely woman such as yourself to track down an unsuspecting CEO at a nightclub, and then again at his office."

"I need your help," Zatanna said, getting right to the point.

"You don't scream charity case," Oliver said.

Zatanna smiled and tried to stifle a laugh unsuccessfully. "My father left me an estate in Shadowcrest, so money isn't an object."

Oliver sat down. "Shadowcrest." He looked down for only a moment before returning his gaze to Zatanna. "John Zatara? The maestro of magic? He was your father?"

Zatanna's only response was a smile and a tilt of her head.

"Well, I'm sorry," Oliver said. "I know what it's like to loose family."

"Yeah," Zatanna said in a low tone. "I lost more than my father. I lost his entire legacy, recorded in a book that's been passed down for generations. There's a bible's worth of my heritage in those pages. When my father died, Mr. Luthor acquired that book at auction."

Oliver nodded, realizing where this was going without her having to actually continue. He stood up. "Well, no offense, Zatanna, but, ah, you're the daughter of the world's greatest magician. Can't you just, I don't know, wiggle your nose and pull it out of a hat or something?" Turning away from her, Oliver moved back toward his desk.

"You're cute," Zatanna said, following after him. "And no. My father refused to teach me much beyond practical parlor tricks."

Oliver closed his laptop computer as Zatanna reached his desk as he noticed that on the screen had been a camera view inside his guest bedroom where Jimmy was staying. The last thing he needed was for this woman to see someone handcuffed on his monitor. It might've given the wrong idea.

"Oh, ah, well, I'm sorry," Oliver said, leaning on his desk. "I really wish I could help. Queen Industries may have absorbed all of LuthorCorp's holdings, but I'm afraid Lex's lawyers won't let me near his private collection."

Zatanna nodded, looking away from him. "I thought I was gonna have to use a little incentive." She turned back to Oliver on her last word, almost smirking at what she said. "See, I have the ability to grant one wish, big or small, whatever you wish for in that moment. It can be yours."

Oliver stared at Zatanna, trying his best to keep from laughing out loud.

"Well, that's very tempting," Oliver finally said, realizing that he was thinking too hard about something he didn't believe could happen in the first place. "But as you can see, I'm pretty comfortable with my life the way it is."

"Well, there has to be somebody you've lost," Zatanna said. "Something that you've done that you wish you could take back. Get my book, and I'll make it happen."

A million thoughts seemed to enter his mind at once, despite that he honestly wasn't sure if he could believe what was being said. He could've wished for his parents, Robert and Laura, back from the dead. He could fix the mistake of having Lex killed. Hell, he could fix Jimmy with the snap of a finger... or did he really want that? What did Oliver actually want with Jimmy anyway? Even he didn't exactly know yet.

"Offer expires at midnight," Zatanna finished.

Oliver looked away from her, trying to sort out everything storming in his mind as he looked down to The Daily Planet and the picture of Lex on the front cover. Hearing a strange noise, he quickly looked back to Zatanna only to find that she had disappeared.

* * *

It had been a very long night. Oliver Queen had not been thrilled about the idea of trying to steal the book in the first place, but in the long run, Zatanna's offer had been too powerful to refuse. The only problem was, she'd figured out that he was The Green Arrow. She had to have been staking the place out or something at the time, waiting for anything to happen when the jolly green archer showed up to steal what she had wanted.

The problem was, when Zatanna finally caught up to The Green Arrow later that night in an alley, he had realized some of the things written in the book could've been disastrous after reading several pages. Not wanting her to end up doing things she'd regret, he had tried to burn the book, but she managed to stop it from falling and forced it to come to her. Using a spell that took him forever to break, she chained him up to a post and just left him there, hood down for all the world to see his real identity.

Thankfully, not even homeless managed to wonder into the alley before Oliver finally realized that Zatanna had placed the spell by saying the phrase backwards. Figuring out a proper phrase to use, Oliver managed to get the enchanted chains to let him go. He spent a few hours trying to find Zatanna with no luck. The only thing he could hope for was that Clark had possibly managed to find her. Though he didn't really think that Clark would know what was going on anyway since Oliver hadn't had the chance to get in touch with him about it as his communicator had been lost earlier before arriving at the warehouse. There had been some Intergang scum in the wrong area of Suicide Slums at the right time and dealing with them had been a priority.

He planned to call Clark now that he was back home, but he was so exhausted and had to collapse in the nearest chair for the moment. Oliver wasn't even entirely sure that he'd manage to make it to bed tonight. That thought instantly made him think to Jimmy, a reminder that he'd actually spent the previous night in the same room with him. Finally pulling himself from the chair, Oliver moved over to the telephone and dialed Clark's number. After a moment, there was an answer.

"Yeah, Clark, it's me," Oliver said. "Any chance you came across a magician woman trying to resurrect her father tonight?" Waiting a moment as he listened to Clark's response, Oliver smiled. "Good. Thank God. Yeah, she was giving me some trouble earlier and managed to wrap me up good, but I'm fine now. Take care. Goodnight."

Hanging up the phone, Oliver moved for the hallway but stopped, instantly remembering that he was still in his Green Arrow attire. Going for his hidden vault, he quickly went inside, removed his gear, and changed into a pair of sweats that he always kept in there incase he had to make an emergency quick change.

Finally making it to the hallway, Oliver gently opened the door to the guest bedroom Jimmy stayed in and looked inside. He was shocked to see Jimmy sitting up in bed staring at him.

"You're late," Jimmy said.

Oliver smirked. "I'm sorry." He walked into the room. "Did I miss dinner or something?"

"Cute," Jimmy said.

"If you already threw everything out, I can just --"

"Will you just stop? I've had enough of you playing doctor with me, and I want to go home."

"Actually, it's Emil that's been playing doctor with you."

"I don't care who you want to place blame on. It's you that's got me handcuffed here."

Oliver nodded as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. "For good reason. We've discussed this."

Jimmy leaned forward, contempt in his eyes. "I am not going to be your next ward."

Oliver sighed. "I never asked you to be, but the idea sounds interesting."

Jimmy shook his head. "Not happening. Now let me go."

"You're in no condition to go anyway," Oliver said.

"Let me decide what condition I'm in," Jimmy said.

Oliver looked down, suddenly having the urge to tell Jimmy what he was really thinking about. "Look, I don't know what actually happened last night. Me staying in here, waking up and nearly jumping out of my skin when I saw you lying next me... You're the first person I've slept in bed with since Lois."

Jimmy was speechless for a moment, his mouth hanging open. "Great. You're trying to get into my pants."

Oliver shook his head. "That's not it."

"Then why do you bring this up?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

"I'm telling you, I don't."

"What a story. If I were still at the Planet, I think I'd get a Pulitzer Prize for outing you on the front page. Not to mention the story about my kidnapping."

"This is your pain, and the addiction to the drugs talking," Oliver said. "Now that I've got you cold turkey, you don't know what you're saying."

Jimmy sneered at Oliver. "Yes, I do. I don't want you near me anymore. Get out of here, you fag!"

"I'm not into guys," Oliver told him.

"I don't believe you," Jimmy said. "It's written all over your face. What I'm saying to you, it hurts. You can deny it all you want, but your emotions don't lie. Now if you're not gonna let me go, then leave me alone."

Oliver stood up and moved for the door. He looked back to Jimmy for a moment before grabbing the door handle and closing the door as he left the room. Standing in the hallway, he crossed his arms, looking down to the floor as he slowly walked to his bedroom. He didn't really understand why, but a tear actually rolled down the right side of his face.


End file.
